blowing off steam about people knowing who you are.OY VEY, as my friend K.K. says when she is discombobulated.
My map is up on the wall and I am tracking the countries in which THE MAGDAENE CHRONICLES BOOK ONE has sold. So far, I am in the US, Canada and Australia. I wish I could place a pin in every state where it has sold but, alas, I don't know what they all are. I am excited, though,that it seems to be well received. I have even had emails asking when the next book will be out.

My problem is, I don't like for people to know that I am the writer. I mean, it isn't that I am not proud of my work; I am. I am passionate about the subject matter, a voracious reader of mystery/suspense myself, and I personally think I did a prety good job. I take criticism well. I think you need criticism in order to "do it better" but I don't take praise well at all. I blush and stammer when I start to speak about how I started the book and why I wrote it and how I decided to make it into a series a'la The Left Behind Series. Subject matter? Religious history/archaeology I can talk about all day and into the night. That is no problemo. I can hold forth on how Mary Magdalene came to be known as a prostitute; how the Catholic Church finally admitted it was all a lie; and never miss a beat. I can lecture on the known life of Jesus and discuss works that have speculated on the unknown. But put me on the Today Show with Matt Lauer and I will go to pieces. Not because I am on television but because that's ME up there on television and now everyone will see me and know what goes on in my head! I am an extremely private person. Years of writing as a "ghost" suited me just fine. "House name"? No problemo...no one would know which edition I wrote. I have a problem with the spotlight being on ME.

Friends and family start to look at me funny. "I didn't know you thought like THAT." will be said. Hey ya'll, it's just A BOOK!. I prefer to enjoy good fortune behind closed doors, on the beach, in a sailboat, with my grandson at the water park. I don't want to have to defend my plot line or my reasoning to people at my dinner table. I don't want people who have always thought me a little ditzy to discover I have a brain that just won't quit or that I can recite paragraphs from some obscure language like Aramaic. I just want to be ME...the next door neighbor, the aunt, the sister. And I want to be free to create my stories and share them with the fans who want to read them.

How come it can't be just that easy?

Now days, thank goodness, publishers dont usually demand you make the rounds of cities and tv shows and book stores signing books to sell more books. The new thing is to trott out the author prior to the release of the book so that reviewers can read the proof edition,booksellers can read the proof edition, and decide if they want to put you on their shelves. Thank goodness because I can't handle the pressure any more. I had rather lay out by the pool

Of course I want to see my loyal fans. In fact, fan gatherings are a blast. You meet people you know like what you write and the way you write it. You don't have to defend yourself or your point of view.When you sign a book it is to a person you almost feel that you know; not a stranger purchasing in hopes the book will one day be worth more than the $9.95 list price because it was autographed. Heck, even Mrs Fletcher(Murder she wrote) got tired of being paraded in front of strangers.

Last year I did the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Daytona Beach, Fl. Now there's a convention!!!!!!! You know the minute that you step foor inside the building that everyone ther is a fan; not just of yours but of one of the other people walking among you wearing a tag that says "published author". At this convention you can attend panels on other genres and learn what they are all about. It helps you decide if you want to venture into sci-fi, romance, historical, etc. You talk with other authors as you stand in line to be seated at luncheons. No one gets preferrential treatment (unless it's the author paying for the luncheon.LOL)You could be standing next to Karen Robards and HER feet will be just as tired as YOURS. It's a way to mingle with other authors of other genres as well as with publishers, agents, editors, cover models, aspring authors, fans and just plain readers. It is an experience I intend to repeat over and over againand I highly recommend it to others.